I've been working out some descriptions of ships for when you visit the shipyards. Of course, these may change along the course of development, but at least you can get an idea for the style I'm working on. Here are a few I've finished so far:Space ChopperThe Space Chopper is the cheapest form of interstellar transportation available on the civilian market. It was the first craft sold publicly for space travel beyond the Sol system, but its dodgy design and paltry cargo trunk never attracted many customers. Still, it is a good option for shoppers low on cash. The Space Chopper comes equipped with a single light laser torpedo blaster, but don't expect it to get more use than for blasting barnacles off a ship's bow.Shuttle- no picture, model not yet near complete -The Earth Trade Association's standard Shuttle was the second mass-produced ship and was the first to really attract the middle-class entrepreneurs into space. It is much faster and maneuverable than the Space Chopper and has more than twice the cargo space. Like the Space Hopper, the Shuttle has a single single light laser torpedo blaster, but the Shuttle also provides a slightly stronger shield generator.Scout Cruiser (the AWACS ship)The Scout is the lead ship of EDF's Exploration and Investigation Division. Since EDF's conception, this ship has been used for both charting distant stars and gathering reconnaissance on the neighboring Gelma Empire. The Scout is fully loaded with the most current scanning and sensor technology and is the best-equipped ship available for safely navigating nebulas and systems with asteroids and other heavy sensor interference. An array of solar panels are also grafted to its hull to assist in deep-space travels.AstrofighterThe Astrofighter is the spearhead of Earth Defense Forces. Beginning with the F Zero One campaign, EDF shifted into high gear and started converting all of its Scout Cruisers into these fighters, stripping off the sensor arrays and packing in more guns and shielding. With a tweaked engine that bypasses some standard safety mechanisms, the Astrofighter is a bit more maneuverable than its predecessor. The Astrofighter also has more room for expansions since so much of the Scout's technology was gutted out. Imperial FighterThe Imperial Fighter is the standard vessel for individual soldiers of the Gelma Empire. It is produced en masse and is carried in complements of six aboard all regulation Imperial Carriers. Typically, these fighters overwhelm their enemies in swarms, using their triad of laser torpedoes to quickly blast apart their target's armor and shields. The Imperial Fighter is very fast and maneuverable but has almost no room for expansions. Imperial Fighter Type 2- no picture yet, similar to standard Imp. Fighter -The Imperial Fighter is the standard vessel for individual soldiers of the Gelma Empire. This upgraded model, however, is truly a rare find. With vastly improved shielding and armor, this Fighter can hold out much longer in battles, packing in some major damage. As an independent craft, the upgraded Fighter also carries a fuel cell thrice the size of the standard Fighter, making it much more suitable for long-distance missions. All these upgrades come at a price, though, as the upgraded model costs more than twice that of the standard Fighter.(Edited by Bradster at 4:36 pm on Nov. 20, 2002)

There's just no stopping him Is there anything (simple) left that I can have a crack at? What sort of scale are you working to? I still need to add some basic details to my Ocean fighter but let me know if that'd be of use...

Quote: from AndyThomas on 11:45 pm on Nov. 20, 2002Is there anything (simple) left that I can have a crack at? What sort of scale are you working to?I have yet to start on these ships:* Ocean Fleet Fighter* Mars Fighter (simple variation of above)* The Skull* Professor Hagen's Shuttle* the wedge-shaped shuttle, I think from ep 24* Imperial Carrier (aka. Drone Craft)* Imperial Battle Cruiser* Imperial Fortress* "FG Operation" Projector* Pterodactyl-like fighter from Princess Keeli's planet* the derelict alien ship from ep 19* Caliban's "death planetiod" also from ep 19Any takers? :biggrin:There are other ships too, but they're just sketches on my pad of paper. I'd also like to reconstruct the Moon Base and Pluto Alpha Base at some point, but they are currently a very low priority.As for the scale, that doesn't really matter. I'm rendering each ship by itself and with a custom camera setup; so, the relative scale of the models (be it 10 m or 10,000 m) won't be a factor. They'll all be resized to fit approximately the same area before rendering. When I render one, I make the output about 2 to 3 times larger than the actual sprite because I fiddle with some special unsharp mask settings in Photoshop first and then scale it down. Why? Well, like most 3D renderers, C4D's output is a bit fuzzy when dealing with small objects. Here's a sample, the sprite for the current Imperial Fighter model:Small, eh? Well, I've been thinking about making the ships all to scale to each other, but things like the Imperial Battle Cruiser and Imperial Fortress would just be HUGE. So, I'll probably instead use a scale like the root of x function or I'll just pull some numbers outta the air. Heh.If you want to render some things yourself rather than just handing over a model, I can post a sample file with the correct camera and lighting setup. The render is typically 36 frames, starting with the ship pointing away from the camera and rotating clockwise 10° on each frame.Quote: from mike on 12:12 am on Nov. 21, 2002What I want to know is, how do you work so fast?You see, I live outside of what you hu-mons call "space time". (Edited by Bradster at 6:03 am on Nov. 21, 2002)

I could help out with some of the Bases. There's the Star Fleet Command 2 model for starters which could easily be transformed into various outposts. And I could knock up a Pluto style Base in Poser easily enough.How do outposts work in Escape Velocity? Would they be in game graphics or justed used for cut scenes? Shane.

Let me see...* Ocean Fleet FighterYup, I can do that one I think as I'm part way through it... * Mars Fighter (simple variation of above) Ditto this one, although there are actually more bells and whistles to it now that I've looked at it closely, but yes, should be doable for me...* The Skull Heh. No, I'll leave that one to you Brad!* Professor Hagen's ShuttleYes, I think that's vague enough for me to have a crack at! * the wedge-shaped shuttle, I think from ep 24I'd just double up on your Space Chopper design - lose the bike pit, double the cabin up and you're pretty much there... * Imperial Carrier (aka. Drone Craft)I'd like to think I could do that, but I'm not sure. I'll pass on it for now...* Imperial Battle CruiserHa! No thanks! * Imperial FortressHmmm. If you could find a sort of conical asteroid model you'd be well away, but you'd need buildings on the top etc... Yours! * "FG Operation" Projector Yours - I'm not sure I could do the colours...* Pterodactyl-like fighter from Princess Keeli's planetMine I think - pretty easy design... * the derelict alien ship from ep 19Don't mind - yours I think. * Caliban's "death planetiod" also from ep 19Yours... That seem sensible? Vaguely 50-50. Some of those big ships would need a lot of work, although I suppose if they're just going to be "basic" models as you've already posted without colouring etc and they're going to be reduced in size, then... Email me with any other details you think I need Brad - that setup file might well be handy...

Hi Shane. The pictures of outposts are used in the following modal dialog box:The image size must be 612 pixels wide by 285 pixels tall. Here are some examples from the actual game:http://brad.project-think.com/starfleet ... jpgClearly, they used Bryce for generating most planets. Space stations, on the other hand, were created in LightWave (along with the ships).http://brad.project-think.com/starfleet ... .jpgDuring gameplay, space stations typically look like these: Though, there are a few enormous ones like this:Anyhow, I'm going to *try* to make the Moonbase myself. You can see I've temporarily put a snapshot from the videos in its place. As I said before, though, this is a pretty low priority in the scheme of things. Feel free to tinker around and experiment with bases and stations, Shane, as you like. I'll be sure to let you know when I'll be needing some and what kinds I might like. For now, the graphics for things like ships and weapons are more important because I need them to be able to code the sizes and locations of certain variables (see this example).Speaking of ships, that looks like a very generous offer, Andy. Thank you. I had just been planning on making them *all* by myself. If you're ready to dive right in, here is a sample file (the astrofighter model).http://brad.project-think.com/starfleet ... c4d.gzJust construct the model on its own paying no attention to how it would scale relative to other ships. When it's finished, make a null object and put every piece of the ship as a child of that null object. This will be the object we scale and rotate in front of the camera. Remove any cameras or large lights from the scene; small lights that are part of the ship itself may remain. Copy the "lights&cam" object from the sample file into your own file. In your perspective view, choose the menu "Scene Cameras" and "Camera" to switch to that view.Check to be sure you are on frame 0 of the animation. In the keyframe controls, set it to use hard interpolation. Turn off all recording options except rotation. Also be sure automatic keyframing is off. Select the null object for your ship and use the coordinates tools to rotate it to point away from the camera. Press the record keyframe button. Now, drag the timeline bar to frame 35. Rotate the null object -350 degrees and press the record button again.Click the Edit Render Settings button and select Output. Change the resolution to 400 x 400 and Frame to 0 t 35. Select the Save section. Check the save image box and enter a path. Change the format to QuickTime Movie. Click OK. Choose General Settings from the Edit menu. Click the Views tab. Be sure the Render Safe box is checked and click OK.In your pespective view, you should see a grey square showing the area that will be rendered. It will actually probably appear just as two vertical lines if your view is wider than it is tall. Drag the timeline bar and watch for any places where the model extends beyond the render area. You want to use the coordinates tools to scale the object to fit just within the render area so that it won't get clipped as it rotates. If the object is really small, you probably should scale it up.Now, you can either render it yourself or you can send me the c4d file to tinker with and make my own adjustments. There is another procedure for making a mask, but I'll cover that later if you do chose to render these yourself.Oh, and Andy, you'll probably be happy to see that you've been given a promotion. (Edited by Bradster at 10:43 pm on Nov. 23, 2002)

Cool. Don't you think it would be great that if where ever possible you use actual images from the show for view screen images etc. Star Fleet Command, Moonbase and Pluto Base are all obtainable. I guess you might need 3D models for them as well but your Moon Base modal dialog box looks great. And it gives it that look of authenticity.I'll quietly in a Sith style lurking in the shadows type way make some 2D view screen style designs While you and Andy do the muscle work.also could I possibly put forward my Espala system for inclusion, for continuity sakes?Shane.